BLOCK v. PLOSIA, Appellate Division, A-4919-05T1, approved for publication February 23, 2007:

Under the New Jersey Arbitration Act, N.J.S.A. 2A:23B-1 to -32, in the absence of indicia that all parties to the arbitration have reasonable advance notice that the scope of the arbitration includes potential liability for treble damages and counsel fees, an arbitrator may not impose such extraordinary relief in the award.

N.J.S.A. 2A:23B-9 requires that written notice of an arbitration hearing “shall describe the nature of the controversy and the remedy sought.” The written notice serves as the functional equivalent of notice pleading in a court action. Cf. R. 4:5-2; Pressler, Current N.J. Court Rules, Comment 1 on R. 4:5-2 (2007)(“it is fundamental that the pleading must fairly apprise the adverse party of the claims and issues raised”).

Arbitration is “at its heart, a creature of contract.” Kimm v. Blisset, 388 N.J. Super. at 25. “An arbitrator’s powers are limited by the agreement of the parties.” Id. at 25. “[I]n the absence of an express agreement about the scope of the arbitrator’s duties, ordinarily the arbitrator is limited to resolving the dispute in question.” Id. at 25-26.

Under N.J.S.A. 2A:23B-21(b), an arbitrator may award reasonable attorneys fees and costs to a prevailing party “if such an award is authorized by law in a civil action involving the same claim or by the agreement of the parties[.]“

NOTE: My legal services include family law, divorce, child support, litigation, arbitration, mediation, child custody and visitation, alimony, equitable distribution, separation agreements, palimony, PSA, property settlement agreement, premarital and prenuptial agreements, midmarriage and marital agreements.

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